This invention relates generally to systems and methods for identifying an individual and particularly to identification systems and methods wherein identification is made through measurement of the pressures exerted on an object by an individual's hand during grasping.
Numerous systems and methods have, from time to time, been proposed for verifying the identity of an individual through inspection of various uniquely identifying characteristics of the individual's hand. In one known system, described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,322,163, a person's fingerprints are optically scanned by means of a collimated light beam and then converted to an electrical signal representing fingerprint information. Although utilization of fingerprint information as a means of verifying identity is particularly advantageous in that the fingerprint is a highly reliable indicator of identity, systems based on automatic acquisition of fingerprint information are disadvantageous in that complex and expensive optical techniques are required to automatically acquire such information, and the negative image frequently associated with fingerprinting in general might cause people to fear automatic acquisition, storage and analysis of their fingerprint information.
In other personal identification systems, such as those shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,206,441 and 4,032,889, the contour of a person's hand is used as the basis for identification. In still other systems, such as those shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,573,193, 3,648,240 and 3,576,537, various characteristics of an individual's hand, such as finger length, finger spacing, and palm dimension are measured in order to identify the individual.
Although each of the foregoing systems avoids the particular drawbacks associated with the use of fingerprint information as a basis for identification, each of these systems requires the use of various, complex, indexing mechanisms to physically fix the location of the hand during measurement. Furthermore, the requirement that the individual blindly place his hand into an oftentimes enclosed measuring apparatus can be psychologically disturbing.
Attention is also directed to the following U.S. Patents:
No. 4,357,597, Butler, Nov. 2, 1982 PA1 No. 4,267,728, Manley, et al., May 19, 1981 PA1 No. 4,107,775, Ott, Aug. 15, 1978 PA1 No. 3,614,737, Sadowsky, Oct. 19, 1971 PA1 No. 3,581,282, Altman, May 25, 1971
The present invention seeks to avoid the drawbacks associated with prior hand identification systems by making identification through measurement and analysis of the pattern of forces exerted by an individual's hand in grasping an object. Because such measurement does not rely on fingerprint information and can be effected simply by having the individual grasp a free-standing, exposed, sensing member, the psychological drawbacks of the prior systems are largely avoided. Furthermore, because precise placement of the hand on the sensing member is far less critical than in prior systems, practical construction of the present identification system is greatly simplified.
In view of the foregoing, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a new and improved system and method for identifying an individual.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a system and method for identifying an individual wherein the drawbacks associated with fingerprint-based systems, and systems requiring insertion of the hand into an enclosed measuring apparatus, are largely avoided.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a new system and method for identifying an individual wherein construction is simplified through elimination of complex structure for optically scanning fingerprints or for physically indexing the hand relative to a measuring surface.